Welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre avenged his last career loss by beating Matt Serra to regain his welterweight title on this day 12 years ago
St-Pierre first fought Serra in 2007. In one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, the New Yorker knocked out the Canadian inside one round. Serra caught St Pierre with a hook that landed behind the head and seriously messed up the champion’s equilibrium. The massive underdog swarmed and continued to land bombs on a wobbly GSP before eventually getting him to the ground and securing the win.
After suffering the second and lost loss of his career ‘Rush’ went straight back to mixing it with the best of the best. He beat Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision before submitting Matt Hughes to capture the interim belt at 170lbs. Next came his shot at redemption against Serra.
On 19 April 2008, more than one year after his initial upset loss GSP had the chance to unify the welterweight division and reclaim his 170lb title. In the UFC 69 main event, the Canadian dominated the fight from start to finish, shutting down any chance of another upset. Ultimately the referee stopped the fight inside two rounds as St-Pierre fired off a series of unanswered knees to Serra who was struggling to defend himself by the end. Check out the full fight video below.
GSP went on to become arguably the greatest fighter of all time. He defended his 170l strap nine times beating the likes of Johny Hendricks, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Jake Shields and BJ Penn. After stepping away from the sport in 2013, St-Pierre returned four years later stepped up to middleweight and dethroned the champion Michael Bisping in an epic fight.
Is Georges St Pierre the greatest fighter in the history of Mixed Martial Arts?